Australian based photo-book publisher, ImagineBooks, has announced the winner of their “Great Travel Photography” competition for amateur photographers. David Steele from England with a photo of a woman from Cuba beat more than 3000 entries by more than 2000 photographers from 50 countries.

“The response was astounding,” said Founder and CEO of ImagineBooks Mark Balla, formerly writer and editor for Lonely Planet Publications. “The standard of the photographs entered is fantastic. The colour and vibrancy, the passion for photography and the incredible breadth of places people visited all resulted in a really exciting publication showcasing only the top 100 photos – way beyond anything we expected.”

Lonely Planet Founder, Tony Wheeler, has written the foreword of the book. “Leaf through the pages of this book and you’ll find both types [of photo]: the amazing places and the amazing photos” said Wheeler.

Second place went to Max Drukpa from Belarus with a photo of five young Buddhist monks in Nepal and third to Sanjoy Bhattacharya from India with his photo entitled “Colours of India”.

This is the first in a series of photography competitions launched by ImagineBooks – the next will be announced in October.